I don’t watch a lot of Maltese television; partly because I don’t have the time and partly because every time I have happened on some programme or other, I remain vastly unimpressed. When X Factor Malta started, a lot of people asked me if I would break my general strike, but apart from a few clips here and there, I didn’t really engage with what was going on till this week when the live shows started.

As someone who has written about fashion for almost a decade, I always find the way in which the Maltese receive certain sartorial choices to be nothing if not interesting and well, enlightening (albeit not always in a good way).

You see, while what the other judges wore was received with little to no controversy, the minute that Alexandra Alden stepped out onto the stage wearing something that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Jacqueline Kennedy’s wardrobe, the social media crowd went wild with what appears to have been vitriolic confusion.

Many Maltese women are still wearing bandage dresses, shiny tights and platformed bordello shoes with zero irony

I have written before about many Maltese women’s idea of beauty being something that wouldn’t look out of place on Ru Paul’s Drag Race, yet I am always left in awe at how far we still need to go to be more open to anything which isn’t covered in crystals, feathers and cut-outs strategically placed to make anyone over a size 6 look like they’re a piece of pork at a butcher’s shop, not to mention incredibly vulgar.

In 2019, many Maltese women are still wearing bandage dresses, shiny tights and platformed bordello shoes with zero irony while having the gall to call out someone for wearing a draped, elegant dress and compare it to their mother’s sheets.

Now, I’m not saying that we should like each and everything that a designer or another makes for the sake of being unique, but most of the comments regarding Alden’s dress simply showcased the overlying witlessness and narrow mindedness which is so prevalent when it comes to us being open to beauty, chic and no diamante.

There was no context or education behind the comments and little to no depth; everyone seemed to want to give their two cents worth from a pretty empty piggy bank.

I have a resolution to propose for 2019: put down your eyeshadow brushes, box up your Louboutin knockoffs and pick up a book; beauty fades, ignorance is forever.